Author:

Plans for the Dawei special economic zone have inched ahead after the Burmese government agreed to borrow 4.5 billion baht ($128 million) from Thailand to finance the construction of a road from Dawei’s proposed deep­-sea port to Thailand’s Kanchanaburi province.

An accommodation zone for migrant workers in Thailand, a government project piloted in Samut Sakhon and Ranong, has received positive feedback from Burmese workers who now find themselves in better and more affordable living conditions.

Thai businesses are ramping up ties with their Burmese counterparts in five main areas — agriculture, border trade, energy, industrial development and tourism — to tap into vast investment opportunities in the neighbouring country.

Thai firm Italian­Thai Development Plc (ITD) says it is ready to restart construction of the long­delayed Dawei deep­sea port and special economic zone over the next few months if the Thai and Burmese governments approve continuation of the megaproject at a joint meeting on 10 February.

The Thai government is stepping up efforts to boost the Rangoon-­Mae Sot trade link by approving a 1.8 billion baht ($53 million) budget to help Burma develop part of its road along the transnational route.

Thailand’s deputy prime minister, Somkid Jatusripitak, will be leading major Thai businesses to meet a team of Burmese officials and businesses to seek further cooperation in developing industrial estates in Burma and border trade operations on 3-4 February.

Thailand’s Foreign Minister, Don Pramudwinai, has spoken for the first time in defence of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, who is increasingly being accused worldwide of ignoring the plight of Burma’s Muslim minority in Arakan State.